* Logo Needed For Artist Community Website *

How inkshuffle started their logo design journey

Summary

This is the final day of the contest. So far #444 is the favorite.

We are looking for a creative, inspiring logo for an artist community website. Our site will feature artist's work as images; as such, we are designing our pages to feature the artist's work rather that our own layout & design. We would like our logo to reflect this as well.

Below are a few websites which we are attracted to, and why. Please remember that we do NOT want a copy of any of these logos -- they are simply used to demonstrate the style & emotion which is invoked by these logos and websites.

1) 99designs.com -- we like the use of the box around the 99 in 99designs.

2) tv.com -- we like the clarity of the logo. the subtle fade in the tv in the period is nice. the greyed out com is nice as well.

3) thefind.com -- we like the upside down "i" and the colours differentiating the words in the name

4) YouTube.com -- we like the "tube" inside the red button which looks kind of like a tv screen

5) Google.com -- we like the use of the colours in the logo. it is also very easy to read. we also like the subtle 3d shading in the logo.

6) flickr.com -- we like the simplicity in the logo how it is mainly text. the blue with the pink text really pops out at the reader.

The logo should only contain the text "inkshuffle" or "inkshuffle.com" upper or lower case is up to you. We prefer a lower case "i". We are open to the idea of all colours, fades, shading, accents, underlines, etc. It should mainly be a textual logo. All iconic imagry should be minimal. For example, the square around the 99 in 99designs is great.

Remember, this is a website targeted towards artists. Be creative.
We are actively commenting on all entries. Please read through previous comments to better understand what we are looking for.

Update #1: We would like to emphasize that end users (consumers, home owners, interior decorators) will be purchasing the artwork submitted to our website. We are a printing company, building a community for artists to share/discuss/sell their artwork.

We would like the logo to be inspiring to artists, yet friendly to middle-aged men and women purchasing it online.

Please sort the entries by star ranking to get a feel for what we like. Please look at disqualified entries, as we have written detailed descriptions why we did not like them.

Update #2:

From the entires received, we have refined our criteria for the logo:

1. Horizontal not vertical or square

2. Clean, easy to read. Remember in an instant

3. Creative, original, thoughtful

4. Professional / Trustworthy

5. No rainbow effects

6. No upside-down 'i'

Regarding upside-down 'i's:

After much debate, we have decided that an upside-down 'i' is too hard to read. For those who have submitted an upside-down i, we welcome you to submit an updated copy.

Company name

inkshuffle

What inspires you and how do you envision the design for your business?

We are creating an online community where artists can sell their artwork on our site and set their own price.
After our logo is designed we will submit it to a web developer to begin drawing the various pages of our site. The developer will use the logo as a theme for development and will be used in print materials (business cards, letterheads, etc) as well. Remember when drawing this logo that the premise of the logo will be used as a base for the development.
Once the look of our site is created we would be interested in building an ongoing relationship with our designer for future design considerations.
We want the logo to be simple and clean looking. The detail we are looking for would be of a subtle nature
Our website will have a very clean look to it in order to feature the artwork which we are selling and not distract the user with our own site
The name “InkShuffle” came from the idea that we are “shuffling” artwork from the artist to the consumer, and acting as the middle-ground. In essence, we are “shuffling the ink”
We want the logo to be colourful but it can’t look tacky, cheap, busy. We want the various colours to flow together
Below are a few websites which we are attracted to, and why. Please remember that we do NOT want a copy of any of these logos -- they are simply used to demonstrate the style & emotion which is invoked by these logos and websites.
1) 99designs.com -- we like the use of the box around the 99 in 99designs.
2) tv.com -- we like the clarity of the logo. the subtle fade in the tv in the period is nice. the greyed out com is nice as well.
3) thefind.com -- we like the upside down "i" and the colours differentiating the words in the name
4) youtube.com -- we like the "tube" inside the red button which looks kind of like a tv screen
5) google.com -- we like the use of the colours in the logo. it is also very easy to read. we also like the subtle 3d shading in the logo.
6) flickr.com -- we like the simplicity in the logo how it is mainly text. the blue with the pink text really pops out at the reader.
The logo should only contain the text "inkshuffle" or "inkshuffle.com" upper or lower case is up to you. We are open to the idea of all colours, fades, shading, accents, underlines, etc. It should mainly be a textual logo. All iconic imagry should be minimal. For example, the square around the 99 in 99designs is great.
Remember, this is a website targeted towards artists. Be creative.
We are actively commenting on all entries. Please read through previous comments to better understand what we are looking for.